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2 punk band members released from Russian prison

pussy-riot-russia12232013.jpg

Maria Alekhina, second from left, a member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot peaks to the media at the Committee against Torture after being released from prison, in Nizhny Novgorod, on Monday, Dec. 23, 2013. Alekhina, and two other band members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich, were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison for the performance at Moscow's main cathedral in March 2012. Samutsevich was released several months later on suspended sentence.
(AP Photo/The Committee against Torture)

Two jailed members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot were released Monday following an amnesty law that both described as a Kremlin public relations stunt ahead of Winter Olympics. Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were granted amnesty last week, which was largely viewed as the Kremlin's attempt to soothe criticism of Russia's human rights record ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February.

The third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on suspended sentence months after all three were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison for the performance at Moscow's main cathedral in March 2012.

The band members said their protest was meant to raise the concern about increasingly close ties between the state and the church.

Tolokonnikova walked out of prison gate in the eastern Siberin city of Krasnoyarsk on Monday, smiling to reporters and flashing a V sign.

"How do you like our Siberian weather here?" said Tolokonnikova, wearing a down jacket but no hat or a scarf in -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit). Tolokonnikova said that together with Alekhina they will set up a human rights group to help prisoners.

Hours before that, Alekhina was released from the prison colony outside the Volga river city of Nizhny Novgorod.

Russian parliament passed the amnesty bill last week, allowing the release of thousands of inmates. Alekhina and Tolokonnikova, who were due for release in March, qualify for amnesty because they have small children.

The release of two Pussy Riot band members came days after President Vladimir Putin pardoned Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon and once Russia's richest man, who spent a decade in prison after challenging Putin's power. Khodorkovsky flew to Germany after release and said he will stay out of politics. He pledged, however, to fight for the release of political prisoners in Russia.

Alekhina told Dozhd TV channel that she was "too shocked" when she was released from the prison colony to grasp what was going on.

She also said she would have stayed behind bars to serve her term, which was to end in March if she was free to turn it down.

"I had a chance to turn it down, I would have done it, no doubt about that," she told Dozhd. "This is not an amnesty. This is a hoax and a PR move."

She said the amnesty bill covers less than 10 percent of the prison population and only a fraction of women with children behind bars. Women convicted of grave crimes, even if they have children, are not eligible for amnesty.

Alkhina complained that prison officials did not give her a chance to say goodbye to cell mates, but put her in a car and drove her to the train station in downtown Nizhny Novgorod. Before seeing her family and friends, she met with local rights activists and said she will work on defending human rights.

Russia's Supreme Court earlier this month ordered a review of the Pussy Riot case, saying that a lower court did not fully prove their guilt and did not take their family circumstances into consideration when reaching the verdict.